Sulcata treatment

[bolim04]

It is quite difficulte to treat a big sulcata. To help to recover faster he has to inhale ...

I hope the treatment against a cold will work fine.
Never had this before and now i have a lot of patients ...

 

[eric joranson]

more details please.....you have my interest up.

 

[Pearly]

It is quite difficulte to treat a big sulcata. To help to recover faster he has to inhale ...

I hope the treatment against a cold will work fine.
Never had this before and now i have a lot of patients ...
View attachment 203415View attachment 203416

Great idea, are you giving a nebulized med to your tort?

 

[bolim04]

Yes i do. It helps to dissolve the mucus.
The vet told me to do this and after two days this is the solution. Often i have also to use some tape because the sulcata doesnt like it and she rips it off. And with the tape its stays at place so she has to breath it in .

Not funny to watch but it helps.

 

[bolim04]

I do it with common salt solution. Its the best for them and it doesnt hurt. And you can get it easy in the drug store ( here in europe)

 

[bolim04]

This is the machine i use. Reliable and not expensive at all

 

[Pearly]

Great idea, are you giving a nebulized med to your tort?

Nebulized meds get into your system much quicker than oral ones. Have you ever heard of people snorting drugs?.... well, there is a reason why they do that.... Oral or injectables are just more common, but you can get them topical (through the skin), sublingual (under the tongue), rectal (up your butt) and all kinds of combos of all of the above.

 

[bolim04]

Oh now i know. Just knew one of the ways you described.
Thanks for the update
So i really hope they will get well soon.

 

[Bee62]

Hello @bolim04
Do you live in Germany ?

 

[bolim04]

Hello
No, but only 600 meters from it. I am from Luxembourg.

 

[Tom]

What have you done to address the cause of the RI?

Most vets treat the symptoms, but many seem to not address the cause of the issue. Usually, with sulcatas, these RIs are caused by temperatures being too low. Especially at night.

What are your four temps? How are you heating and lighting them? What is the over night low temp in their enclosure?

 

[bolim04]

Just to show you so you can treat your animal faster.
Mine is better know still has a bit but much better than last week. He is beginning to eat now and this is a good sign.

Hope the video will help.


Here is the link of my video at my youtube channel.

(Ps i don't know if I can upload videos here)

Regards to you all

 

[Bee62]

But only if a tortoise is kept too cold he will get a respiration infect.
What went wrong with your sulcata that he could get sick ?

 

[bolim04]

It was my fault. I am quite sure about it. 2 weeks ago we had 20 degrees. The first good weather after the winter and i took them out for 3 hours.
I didnt think about the cold soil ...

This is the only explanation i found ...

Unfortunate mistake, i wanted to give them rel sunlight and good temperatures for the first time this year ...
I never will do this mistake again.

 

[bolim04]

Temperature in the enclosure at night is at all tine 22-23 an also heat lamps without light where that can sit underneath wher the temperatur is easy over 30

 

[bolim04]

The winter this year was the hardest since years (weeks under -10, -15 degrees)and therefore the soil was also colder bit i have not thought about it...

That is the only variable which changed since i have the sulcatas

Now i know better and hopfully i was a wake up call to think on everything.

They are all well and on the video, the big guy is getting better and better every day. He already walks a lot an eats a lot.

 

[Tom]

Temperature in the enclosure at night is at all tine 22-23 an also heat lamps without light where that can sit underneath wher the temperatur is easy over 30

Under normal circumstances, the night temperature shouldn't be lower than 26 anywhere in the while enclosure for this tropical species. For a sick one that is fighting infection, I would not let ambient drop below 30 day or night anywhere in the enclosure. With all that electrically generated heat, it is important to soak daily or every other to maintain good hydration during treatment.

3 hours at 20 degrees C should not cause an RI. Night temps of 22-23 on a regular basis, certainly could.

Also, because you have an area that is 30 at night doesn't mean they will use it. They might feel more secure in a different area of the enclosure, or they might be avoiding a confrontation with another tortoise that is over near that warmer area. They sleep where they sleep for a wide variety of reasons. In the wild, where it is hot every day, and they are in their warm burrows every night, there is no place where it is too cold for them to sleep, so warmth is not something they consider when choosing a sleeping spot. The entire enclosure needs to be warm enough at night. Above 26 everywhere for healthy sulcatas, and above 30 for once that is sick and fighting infection. And daytime ambient should climb above 32 C in the entire enclosure for a sick one too, plus a basking area of 37ish.

 

[bolim04]

Yes you are right. Ambient temp is 23 at the lowest areaes and ove r25 mostly everywhere.
I have the sick one in a 2 m2 area of 26 temp. And light which doesnt exceed the 40's
So he chooses where to go.

This particular description i got also from my vet who has also tortoises.

And him i only got last hear and i don't know the animal very well. Now i know him better.

 

[bolim04]

And it is the very first time i encountered this problem since i have tortoises ... ehich is more than 2 decades.

But you learn everytime and i am a person who loves these animals and want to do every possible thing to treat them as naturalistic as possible.

It could also be that it was the cold air when i entered the enclosure ... here in Europe the temps are very low til sometimes -20.

I will recheck that so i won't happen again.

Thank you very much for your help and argumentation. It is appreciated!

 

[Bee62]

And it is the very first time i encountered this problem since i have tortoises ... ehich is more than 2 decades.

But you learn everytime and i am a person who loves these animals and want to do every possible thing to treat them as naturalistic as possible.

It could also be that it was the cold air when i entered the enclosure ... here in Europe the temps are very low til sometimes -20.

I will recheck that so i won't happen again.

Thank you very much for your help and argumentation. It is appreciated!

Thank you for sharing your ( bad ) experience with us. Mayby it helps other sick tortoises to recover earlier and better.
Here in Germany it is still to cold too for a tortoise outside. I suspect that it would be may before I can take my sulcata babies outside for a few hours.